frosty juniper

Max and I headed up to the SnowBowl Sunday. He took another snowboarding lesson and I went skiing. What a blast! It had been a good eighteen years since I had been up a chairlift, but my body remembered pretty quickly, and I was on the black runs after lunch. My calves are talking to me today. I definitely want to do more skiing this season.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Christmas day. We just finished dinner, and the boys are back to the Nintendo Wii they received this morning.

Peace, Love, and Merry Christmas!

Ok, that wasn't quite a sunset, but it was going down:) This last Sunday, we took the boys up to Flagstaff for a little winter fun at the AZ SnowBowl. Max and Doug took an all day snowboarding lesson and had a blast. Eric and I enjoyed watching them and getting a little snow fix. By the time we got the boys all situated, the rental line had gotten really long, so we figured we'd just hang out. Next time we will bring our skis for sure! Hopefully, the snow will stick around for awhile up there! It was a little over an hour drive to the mountain.

First ride up the big chair lift. Max does NOT like heights, so this was a bit of a challenge for him. After their lesson, he went up the smaller chair by himself!

Not great pics, but you get the idea. The North Rim(tiny bit in this shot) of the Grand Canyon is in the upper left corner of the above photo.

visitors

My friends Heidi and Laura came for a short visit over the weekend. We drove to Sedona and had a little picnic lunch at Cathedral Rock, so far my favorite place in the Sedona area. Our time was limited, but we had a nice little visit. Next time we'll hit Jerome.

the forge

I got my forge set up the other day and started pounding some steel. I found some rebar scraps in the yard, so I just played around a bit. I plan to start small, incorporating some steel into jewelry, then move up to some bigger pieces. I don't have an actual PLAN, I figure the work will reveal itself as I go.
My jewelry bench is in the background, and Eric's space is to the right. There is another room behind the shelved wall, and a bathroom behind that. The other half of "the barn" is behind the camera.

snow and steel

All the rain we've had down here at 3100 feet has translated to snow up at the higher elevations. This is Squaw Peak from the balcony off our bedroom. The Snowbowl up in Flagstaff is open now, so we plan on going skiing up there this weekend.
I love being able to see the snow in the distance and not having to deal with it on a daily basis!

Gordon, the instructor of the blacksmithing workshop, is on the right, helping Tom make a pair of tongs. The workshop was a lot of fun and very informative. I ordered a forge yesterday, so I hope to be pounding some more steel real soon!

This is the workshop in the back of Pieh Tools, the blacksmithing supply store. The owner is in the red vest. She is from Burlington WI, and her parents owned a balcksmithing supply store there that I was familiar with from years ago. Small world :)

This place is a bicycle ride from our house.

They hold other workshops besides blacksmithing. I will take the knifemaking class when it's available. Doug can't wait to be big enough to swing a hammer for that one!

I went for a little hike here last week. This is Crescent Moon State Park, the same place the Cathedral Rock pics were taken. The left of this photo is the left edge of Cathedral rock from a different angle. There's a nice little trail through the woods along Oak Creek. There are also tons of dry creek beds that one can hike down. You know what that means-tons of ROCKS! I plopped myself down in the rocks a few time. Rummaged through and stacked a few. Nice rhyme, huh. Sorry:)

I'm starting my blacksmithing weekend workshop this morning. I'm quite excited to get back to pounding some steel. I should set up a massage for next week.

My friend Heidi was here last week. It was a short visit, but really nice to see her. Thanks for making the drive up Heidi!!

We have decided to come back to EV for a visit over the Holiday break. Dec 28-Jan 3. I'm busy manifesting nice weather for the flights :)

rain

When I woke up yesterday, I could see that it had rained during the night. It was so nice and humid and smelled so good! I was so excited to have some rain. The last time it rained here was probably the end of August. What people call the monsoon season is a thunderstorm or two during the day, so it wasn't even what I would consider a 'good' rain.
So, I'm driving down to Tempe yesterday, to meet a friend at a huge art fair. It's cloudy and the forecast says rain, but we figure a little storm here and there for a few minutes, no big deal. It rained ALL day!! It cracked me up to have it raining all day in the desert. I didn't think that happened around here. The one weekend people would rather have it sunny, and there are not one, but TWO whole days of rain. It started out just a slow and steady rain. The kind you know will hang around all day in Chicago. By the afternoon, the constant gentle rain was interspersed with heavy downpours, so by the end of the day, we were soaked to the bone, and getting a little chilled. The temp was in the sixties, but when you're wet, that's kinda cold!
Driving home in the dark and the rain through the mountains was not a fun experience( not to mention rush hour traffic through Phoenix)
I really feel bad for all the artists(over 400). I know what it's like to get rained out at a show, and it is NO fun! Tomorrow the sun is supposed to return, so hopefully it will turn out ok for everyone. We had fun anyway. I can't remember the last time I walked around in the rain all day :)

The umbrellas were pretty much for show by that point. Mary's HUGE beach umbrella got a lot of comments :)

Last night the wind picked up to go along with the rain, and didn't stop until about three this afternoon. I think there must be wind storms in the late fall to help the last leaves off the trees. I thought that was just a Chicago thing, but apparently not! We've got a little raking to do when everything dries out(by tomorrow most likely). This Mulberry tree had all it's leaves yesterday.

Happy Thanksgiving

We had our turkey dinner last night, so today, we had turkey sandwhiches up on Bell Rock in Sedona. I think I felt like something really different from our EV Thanksgiving tradition would be a nice diversion. Maybe we created a new tradition, who knows.
The weather was cooperative as usual. Sunny and in the 70s. A few clouds for variety, and a nice breeze on the south side of the rock.

This is the view looking to the northwest.

I forgot how to use the timer on the D70, so we had to take turns with the picture taking. I will consult my owners manual as soon as I'm finished here.

Lunch on Bell Rock. Courthouse Butte is in the background. We are probably a little less than halfway up at this point. Next time I'll get more pics of the actual place we were at :) It's all so beautiful, it almost doesn't matter where I point the D70!

Hope everyone is having a wonderful Thanksgiving Holiday! Turkey and pie, baby, turkey and pie.

Doug lost his first tooth last night. It had been loose for a couple weeks. Max also has a loose tooth, and was wiggling it. Doug decided his was coming out first, so he started wiggling, determined to be the first one. I don't think he meant for the tooth to come out right then, but it must have been ready :)
A big milestone here in AZ. Probably not for him, but for me anyway. We are creating memories here now, and it is bittersweet. The reality of our relocation sets in at these moments. I'm happy I can share things with family and friends on this blog, but also a little sad at times to be so far away from everyone. I know our lives are happening the way they are supposed to though, and just keep moving forward.
I'm starting to set up my jewelry bench, and hoping to get making some stuff by next week. I have collected some cool rocks here, and can't wait to put them into some jewelry. I will send some work to Mindscape for the Holiday season ASAP!

Sedona

After a few hours on the computer, I actually figured out how to convert my NEF files to JPEGS. We were on our way to Cathedral rock yesterday, and took a wrong turn. This is where we ended up. BUMMER Cathedral Rock at sunset. It was cloudy and actually raining in the distance-pretty rare

There were tons of stacked rocks all over the place-how incredibly cool is that?! We did a little stacking ourselves.

Oak Creek and Beaver Creek run through parts of Sedona. I think this is Oak Creek. I will definitely be returning here!

Grand Canyon

Yesterday, we watched the sun rise onto the Grand Canyon and watched the sun set on Cathedral Rock in Sedona. Not a bad way to spend the day!! Pictures cannot possibly convey the beauty and enormity of the Grand Canyon. It is hard to get a sense of scale from the rim. You really have to hike down to see the best view. My sister in law and I hiked a SMALL way down. I will for sure hike all the way down on a future trip!

I don't think captions are necessary
It was hard to select a few of the many pics I took yesterday. These were from the early morning, just as the sun was rising.
I was experimenting with my D70 and it's different image types. Unfortunately, this site will not upload NEF files, so I will have to find a way to convert my incredible Cathedral rock photos. They are the best pictures I've taken here so far. If any one knows how to convert, please advise:)

guests

We have lots of company this week. Some friends from EV and my brother and sister-in-law both arrived on Monday afternoon. Yesterday we had a full day of sightseeing in Jerome and Sedona. We did A Pink Jeep tour that took us up a scenic dirt road and back down. Great Photo ops, and the sun was setting too!

SeaWorld

SeaWorld was really a cool place. Different from any zoo or aquarium we've been to. In addition to animals, they have a few rides. Most of them involve getting wet, so the lines were not long when we were there. I had to buy a pair of dry pants after the one we went on. I was frozen! There are also various shows, with dolphins, sea lions, Even dogs and cats(we skipped that), but the highlight of the day was seeing Shamu the killer whale.
They stagger all the showtimes, so you can see all of them in a day if you choose. We opened the place, and stayed till about a half hour before closing. We went to the dolphin show, a 4D movie thing, and the killer whale show. We skipped the pets and sea lions. I think we were searching for a jacket to buy for Max when the sea lion show started.
At the shows, you have the option of sitting in the "soak zone" down in front. They were not exaggerating! Eric and I sat up a little higher, but the boys sat down in front for the dolphins and whales and got splashed in a major way! After the dolphin show, Doug got a jacket too. We made sure to keep everything dry during the whales' performance.
We were there on a cloudy, cool Friday, perfect for a small crowd. I can see how on a nice day, it would really be packed, and you might spend a good part of the day waiting in lines. That was not the case for us, so it was a great day. Pretty much worth the 180.00 admission fee for four(with coupons). San Diego is quite lush, but I was told that none of the plants are native. Pretty none the less.

Shamu is a truly awe inspiring sight, and such a tolerant ambassador for his species.

Lots of places to buy fish and feed the animals. My favorite was the stingrays. The boys got freaked out by them, so I got to do all the feeding of the rays :). On a more crowded day, I can see this being really difficult. At the dolphin feeding, there was a pretty long line to get the food.

This is at the tide pool.

San Diego

I LOVE Saguaros! The northern edge of the Sonoran Desert is a little south of us. I plan on investigating and getting up close to the awesome cacti! the boys' reflection was intentional

We took a little road trip to San Diego last week. Doug wanted to go to SeaWorld for his birthday. It was about a seven hour drive through mountains and desert. Not a bad drive to end up at the ocean! It was foggy and chilly almost the whole time we were there, which was a nice little change from dry and sunny all the time(boo hoo) :). I was ready to get out of the extreme humidity after a few days. My sinuses are still trying to adjust to the DRY climate here in AZ however. What the heck was I thinking when I gave away my humidifiers? Anyway, we went to SeaWorld and the zoo, and hung out at the resort we stayed at on Mission Bay. I managed to talk the boys into going to the beach the morning we left. It was kind of chilly(60), but there were surfers and dolphins out with them. Very cool. Was hoping to get a picture of a sunset on the beach, but it was too cloudy. The above photo was taken in the car on the way home, just north of Phoenix.

Maybe more pics later. This blogger site didn't want to upload at the moment.

befores and afters 2

As you all probably know, we have been doing a little remodeling since we've been in AZ. We started with the kitchen, then moved on to the living/family room. It is kind of all one big space. The followong photo is the kitchen before I resurfaced the counter tops. I will do a before and after of the whole kitchen when the backsplash is in.
There is plenty more work to do on the house, but we are going to slow it down for a bit and switch gears to working for paychecks. More on that later :)We took the stove out so I wouldn't make a mess on it.

The process took about five days, partly because I didn't have enough materials, and had to make two trips to Sedona. Between varios coats of stuff, you have two wait eight hours for it to cure.

I also got a couple of stencils.


This is the living/family room. There was a whole wall dividing the two. We knocked down part of it and put a three sided fireplace in.

The kitchen is to the left. I am standing in the dining area.

Different angle

The floor was vinyl sheet made to look like wood.

This is the bathroom in the guest "suite". Eric tiled the floor, and I tiled the shower. It was my first tile job. I think it turned out pretty nice. We kept the vanity and shower surround. I will probably paint the vanity at some point, but we are calling it finished for now.

birthday boy

Mr. D turned seven today. I think he has inherited my fashion sense! I am bringing cupcakes to school this afternoon, then his choice for dinner is Babe's Roundup hot wings to go. They are right up there with Buffalo Joe's. We are headed to San Diego on Thursday-he wants to go to SeaWorld instead of having a party.

Fall

The trees are beginning to show signs of fall here. This is our Mesquite outside the front door. The photo above is of some trees across the street. I'm hoping the trees along the Verde River will have some more reds and oranges. We'll see.

When we first got here, quite a few people told us that October was the best month weatherwise. So far, that has been true. It is chilly in the morning(40), but warms up to 80ish by 1:00. We saw a few clouds today :) Haven't turned on the heat at all yet. We thought about it last week when we had a few chilly(65) days, but it warmed up again.